


The Woes of Separation

by WeepingWings



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos in the Desert Otherworld, Cecil Is Not Described, Cecil Whump, Depression, Eating Disorders, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-12 07:07:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11156805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeepingWings/pseuds/WeepingWings
Summary: Being separated from the one you love is always hard, especially when he doesn't call as much as he should. And when he does call, spend the whole time talking about science. Or even just look for a door he promised he would. But as hard as the separation has been on Cecil, as least his friends aren't letting him give up quite yet.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've always been a little unhappy with the lack of depressed Cecil fics while Carlos is trapped in the desert otherworld, so I decided to write one for myself. Hope you guy enjoy!

It was the knock on his front door that roused Cecil from his bed. It had been a long night of staring at the ceiling and feeling nothing, and it would’ve continued for the rest of the day if it hadn’t been for the door. Lightly groaning, he swung his legs over the bed and stood up, his knees popping slightly as he did so.

“I’m too old for this.” He muttered as he reached into his closet and pulled out the first t-shirt his fingers touched. After casting a quick glance around the room, he shuffled out of the room and into the hallway, pulling the shirt over his head as he did so. 

As Cecil was passing the kitchen, the doorbell rang. The sharp electric chime irritated his ears. 

“I’m coming I’m coming.” he grumbled, picking up a slight bit of speed so that the person on the other side of the door wouldn’t make another attempt to ring the doorbell.  
After reaching the rich oak door, he quickly undid the deadbolt and swung it open, revealing a certain old intern standing on the faded purple welcome mat. 

“Hey Dana.” Cecil rasped, stepping back and gesturing for her to come inside.

“Hey Cecil! How are you doing?” Dana replied as she stepped inside, smiling up at him as she did so. 

“I’m doing alright.” he lied, closing the door behind her, and once realizing how dark it became, switched on the hallway light. “How about you?”

“My day’s going okay, but I’m feeling a little apprehensive about this picnic thing hosted by City Council.” She replied, a hint of fear bleeding into her voice. 

“I bet. It’s making me nervous as well, so I was just planning on avoiding it altogether.” Cecil said, his voice devoid of any emotion as he flopped onto his living room couch.

“But Cecil! You’re completely missing the point of why the picnic is being held! Once people realize just how much fun picnics can be, then the Sheriff's Secret Police can stop reeducating us every time we try to use the dog park in replacement of Mission Grove Park!”

“True, but that then means that I would have to leave the house. On a day that I don’t have to work.”

“Cecil, you’ve been inside for three days now.” Dana gently whispered, voice thick with concern as she settled down beside him on the couch. “I know that it’s much easier for you to just stay inside and not have to stress about social interactions, but it’s unhealthy to stay inside for so long. Besides, you’re starting to worry us.”

“I know I know.” Cecil muttered, seeming to ignore the last part of her small speech as he rubbed his face with shaking hands. “But I don’t want to do anything. Haven’t wanted to for months now.” 

“I know that this is hard, but I swear that going out will make you feel better.” Dana grinned gently, pulling him into a quick hug. “Besides, Abby told me that Janice is going to be there as well.”

That seemed to perk Cecil up a bit, as his eyes opened and the corners of his mouth raised slightly into his weak rendition of a smile. “She is?” he asked, a child-like tone tinting his deep voice. 

Dana just nodded before jerking a hand in the direction of the bedroom. “Now go and get dressed while I make breakfast. You can’t just go outside wearing a pair of black shorts and a lame _science_ t-shirt, people will begin to think that you’ve lost your fashion edge.” she joked.

“I don’t really care anymore.” was Cecil’s flat response as he rose from the couch, not even reacting to her jab at science.

Her brow creased in worry at the lack of reaction, watching as her friend shuffled out of the living room, through the kitchen, and into the bedroom. Once Cecil had disappeared around the corner, Dana sprung up from the couch and bounded into the kitchen, quickly opening the fridge and scanning the contents. After finding a nearly empty container of eggs, she pulled them out and set them on the counter, noticing that there were only three empty packages of takeout on the island and lack of dirty dishes in in the sink.

“Oh Cecil.” she sighed sadly, her heart sinking at the sight.

With renewed vigor, she went back to the fridge and pulled out an unopened package of bacon. After telling the cupboard a brief poem about the pain of existence, she was pulling out pans and beating the eggs into submission when Cecil re-emerged from the bedroom, this time fully dressed.

“Do you need any help with that?” he asked softly, sliding into one of the high barstools positioned around the island.

“No, I would hate to hurt your undernourished body.” Dana said, voice gruff and unfriendly as she sent a glare in Cecil’s direction.

Seeming to know exactly what he was in trouble for, Cecil sank down in his seat and let out a soft whine.

“I’m sorry.” he offered, voice wavering.

“I know.” Dana sighed, rubbing her eye tiredly. “I just wish that you at least tried to eat normally when we leave you alone.”

“I try to, I really do, but I just never feel hungry.”

“But can you at least try to eat at least two meals a day. It’s not that much more than what you’re eating now, and besides Cecil, you’re going to get sick if you just eat one meal a day.”

Cecil just nodded in response, looking miserable. The rest of the process was spent in silence, and before ecil knew it, a plate was being set down in front of him. Dana shot him a look that clearly said eat. Before turning back around and heading over to the sink where she spent the next few minutes feeding it leftover strips of bacon and washing up the pans she has used.

Before long, Cecil was putting his empty plate into the sink, swatting Dana’s hand away as she went to reach for it.

“Abby’s coming tomorrow.” he muttered, “let her do it.”

Knowing better than to fight with him, Dana just smiled and left it alone.

“Okay, now that you’ve been fed.” Dana said. “Are you ready to go down for the picnic?”

“No, but I know that you’re going to force me to go anyway, so yes.” Cecil sulked, frowning at his feet, clad in deep purples socks.

“Come on Cecil! It’ll be fun! Besides, aren’t you excited to see Janice?"  
“Maybe.” he replied, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards once again.

“There’s the smile I’ve been missing.” Dana said brightly, swinging an arm around his shoulders and dragging him toward his front door. “Let’s get to that picnic!”

“Hang on Dana, wait, I haven’t put my shoes on yet.” Cecil protested, straining against her, but the only response he got was his pair of unicorn printed flats being pressed into his hand, along with the apartment key

Dana gently threw the door open and stepped outside, pausing to let Cecil put his shoes on and lock the door to the apartment before taking his upper arm and dragging him toward her car.

“My lady.” She joked, pulling open the passenger side door and watching as Cecil slid into the seat, shooting a weak glare at her as he buckled his seatbelt. Dana just grinned back and shut the door, hurrying around the car and sliding into the driver's seat.

Out of the corner of her eye, Dana caught the despairing look Cecil shot her way.

“What?” she responded, looking over her shoulder as she pulled off of the driveway and into the empty street. “Someone has to make for the lack of excitement you’ve had the past four months”

Cecil just shook his head and tried to disguise the sadness that flickered across his face by turning to look out the window, but Dana still saw it, and it made her heart sink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked the chapter! If there is anything you think I could change to make the story better, just let me know. Or, just let me know if you liked it! Either way, I hope you all enjoyed!


	2. Chapter Two

It didn’t take long to drive to Mission Grove Park, and before Cecil knew it, Dana was parking her car and sliding out of her seat. Taking a deep calming breath, he unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to open the car door when it swung open on its own, revealing Dana on the other side. 

“Sorry, I would’ve been quicker, but I had to tell the Sheriff's Secret Police that we were here before the mandatory arrival time, which is about two minutes, to save us the re-education they were threatening.” She said as she helped Cecil get out of the car.

Cecil just quirked his lips in response before starting towards the entrance to the park. Dana watched him go, mind flashing back to several minutes ago. When she had run up to the desk to check them in, the Sheriff's Secret Police shot her an impressed look as they checked the box beside her name, and only her name. They hadn’t expected Cecil to come, and for some unfathomable reason, were completely okay with that.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she ran to catch up with Cecil, who wasn’t a very long way down the path due to his incredibly slow pace. 

“Why do I keep hearing cheers every time I walk past a tree or bush?” Cecil whispered once she had caught up. “It’s starting to freak me out.” 

“I think the Secret Police are happy to see you out of the house,” Dana responded, a half truth. 

“Odd,” Cecil muttered under his breath as he played with the end of his magenta shirt. “I’ve never known the Secret Police to be happy.” 

Not knowing how to respond to that, Dana just smiled at him before letting their small conversation be replaced by silence. The quiet lasted between the two until they caught sight of Janice wheeling towards them, the soft cries of Uncle Cecil! Getting louder and louder as she drew nearer. 

“Hey, Janice.” The uncle in question answered one she got close enough. “How have you been doing?”

“I’ve been doing great Uncle Cecil! What about you?” Janice answered brightly, hugging his waist tightly before letting go. 

“I’ve been doing okay, thanks for asking,” Cecil answered, his lips once again twitching upwards. 

“No, you haven’t,” Janice said bluntly, looking into Cecil’s face. “You’re skinnier than the last time I hugged you and the circles under your eyes are darker than normal.” 

“W-what, how did? What?” Cecil spluttered, his cheeks tinged pink from the blush taking over his face. 

“Can’t argue with her Cecil,” Dana said, putting a hand on his arm. “Your eating habits, or lack thereof, are starting to show, and I can clearly see how little sleep you’ve been getting.” 

“I hate both of you.” he muttered but sent one of his weak smiles in Janice’s direction to show that he wasn’t that mad. 

“Great! Glad we’ve sorted that out! Now Janice, why don’t you show Cecil where the food is? I made sure he ate breakfast, but I’m sure he’ll be hungry again soon.” Dana said, turning to the smaller girl and giving her a sly smile.

Janice caught on immediately and smiled back, before turning to Cecil with a glint in her eye. “Come on Uncle Cecil, I can show you the brownies I made,” she said, already moving, knowing that Cecil would follow her. 

Dana watched the two of them move away, Janice chattering away about the current patch they were working on in Girl Scouts and what they had been learning in baseball practice.

Content now that Cecil was occupied, Dana went off in search of Abby. It didn’t take long to find her, as they had designated a meeting spot last night, right beside The Shape.   
“Hey,” Dana said softly as she came up beside her. “I managed to pawn your brother off to your daughter.”

“Thanks,” Abby responded dryly, turning to face her. “I’ve always wanted to burden that child with the weight of her Uncle.” 

Dana laughed softly before turning serious again. 

“Oh no, what has he done this time?” Abby groaned, rubbing a hand over her face. 

“Not much, besides eat one meal a day for three days and then not sleep,” Dana replied. “There were fewer bottles lying around though, so that’s always a good sign.”

“I guess,” Abby muttered, turning to scan the park. “At least we’ll be able to force food into him before it gets too late, instead of hoping that he blacks out first.”

Dana just hummed sadly in response, the two of them falling into silence. After several minutes, Abby seemed to find what she was scanning for, as she turned back to Dana.   
“Thank you for getting him out of the house. I know that it couldn’t have been easy, but I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to do something, especially not today.”

“Of course! Besides, even if you hadn’t of come up with this whole idea, then I probably would’ve dragged him out today anyway. Who know’s what he would do if left alone.”

“I didn’t want to find out.”

The two fell into an easy silence again, just watching their town interact at the first picnic since they had driven Strex out of town. 

“I think that we should bring therapy up again,” Abby said suddenly, slight desperation tinging her voice.

“What!” Dana cried, turning to face her. “The last time we did that, he shut down for a week! Remember how we had to drag him into the hospital just so he wouldn’t die of dehydration? There is no way I’m letting him go through that again!”

“But think about it, Dana! The current system we have going clearly isn’t working! Just because he let you, Old Woman Josie, and I stay three out of seven times a week, doesn't mean it’s doing any help! He’s still getting thinner and the bags under his eyes are still growing! I hate this idea as much as you do Dana, but I can’t just stand aside and watch my brother slowly kill himself, I just can’t!” 

“I-I’ll think about it okay.”

“That’s fine, but I think that we should to it soon before he starts to get even worse.” 

Sending a weak smile in Abby’s direction, Dana moved from her spot beside The Shape and into the crowd, knowing that she always thought best when surrounded with people.  
The problem flicked back and forth in her mind as she wandered around, just watching the rest of her town interact. During a small scan of the crowd, she caught sight of Cecil and Janice, who hadn’t moved far from the buffet table. Cecil had somehow found a chair, so the two were around the same height as Janice chattered on, this time about school. Dana couldn’t help but smile as she watched the two, Janice completely happy to chatter on a Cecil ready to just listen, a feat that in itself, was unusual. She couldn’t remember a time before all this had happened when Cecil had been quite. He always seemed to be making some kind of noise, but over the past four months, she had grown used the silence he always seemed to wallow in. 

As she watched the two, Janice said something that made herself and the people around her laugh, but all that came from Cecil was a quick and barely there smile. She watched as Janice seemed to deflate a little as her Uncle’s lack of response, continuing on with her story, this time with a lot less excitement. 

Watching that small interaction made Dana’s heartbreak, and before she knew it, she was fighting her way through the crowd to get back The Shape as quick as possible. 

“I agree.” Dana panted once she got there, putting her hands on her knees and breathing deeply. It had been a while since she had moved that quickly. 

“You do?” Abby responded, smiling widely when Dana nodded. “Oh Dana thank you!” she cried, pulling the other woman into a hug. 

“Of course! The more I thought about it, the more I started to worry about him. And, I thought about how if he ended up, y-you know, how I would never be able to forgive myself for not doing anything.”

Abby just nodded, her smile shrinking slightly. “That’s why I want to bring it up to him again. Every time I saw him, he was getting worse, and whenever I would leave him alone for the four days, I was always terrified of what he would do, so I figured that bringing it up again would be worth it.” 

“I totally understand,” Dana responded, feeling her eyes start to grow slightly damp as she pulled Abby into another tight hug. “So, when do you want to bring it up to him?” She asked after pulled back

At the question, Abby’s jaw set and her shoulders pulled back. “Tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you all know, this is completely unbetaed, so all the mistakes I make are my own.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have taken a few liberties regarding how long Cecil and Carlos had actually been together, but I needed to play with the timeline a little so it fit with my story :)

After planning out the best way of suggesting therapy to Cecil again, Abby pushed off from The Shape and tightened her ponytail. 

“I should probably go and talk to people,” she said absentmindedly, scanning the crowd yet again. “We’ve been antisocially standing by The Shape for a long time now, the Secret Police might start getting suspicious.”

“You’re right,” Dana muttered, looking down at her feet from a brief moment. “I want to go and talk to Cecil anyway, make sure he’s eaten,” she added, starting to walk toward the buffet table. 

“I’ll come with you, I haven’t gotten much of a chance to talk to him since my three-day visit two weeks ago, so I need to do a bit of an assessment for myself.” Abby said, following behind Dana “not that I don’t trust you or anything, but with Cecil, I’ve always found it easier to take a look for myself.”

“Don’t worry! I completely understand.” Dana answered, throwing a smile over her shoulder. “Besides, you know him better than I do.”

Abby chose not to respond to that, as the two of them were nearing the outskirts of Janice and Cecil’s hearing range. After taking a couple steps closer, Dana and Abby stood behind a small cluster of people and just watched the two interact. Janice was still chattering on about something, and Cecil was still listening, but this time, he seemed to be a little more awake and into the story. They heard an indignant cry of “no way!” from Cecil and an incessant nod of the head from Janice before stepping forward and making their presence known. 

“Don’t get too excited there Cecil, wouldn't want you passing out now would we?” Dana joked as she took a seat next to him on the grass

“Hey! I’ll have you know that I’ve eaten” he muttered back, looking slightly hurt

“Has he really?” Abby asked, shooting a questioning look at her daughter.

“He has, don’t worry Mom.” Janice answered “I wouldn’t stop bugging him about it until he had finished everything on his plate. I think he just got really annoyed in the end.”

“You, annoying? Never.” Cecil grumbled, the smallest bit of sarcasm bleeding into his voice as he did so.

Janice just shot him a glare in response before turning to her mother. “Mom, can I go and stay at Uncle Cecil’s tonight? It’s been such a long time since we’ve had a sleepover.”

“I wish that I could say yes honey, but you’ve got school tomorrow, and I’m a little worried that Cecil doesn't quite remember how to drive to the elementary school, especially when he would have to get up two hours before he normally does.” Cecil sent Abby a reproachful look at her comment before looking back down, his long fingers fiddling with the blades of grass.

“Fine, but does that mean we can have one next weekend?”

 

“As long as Uncle Cecil doesn’t mind.”  
“I’m sure he won’t, he loves me!” 

“That I do Janice,” Cecil interjected before any more damage could be done to his pride. “I would love to have you over next weekend.”

“It’ll be fun! We can watch movies, play games, I can make sure you actually eat something, and we could go down to Uncle Carlos’s lab and see all the cool equipment he has out.”   
No one missed Cecil stiffen at the mention of Carlos. Silence fell over the small group as everyone fought for something to say.

“Cecil.” Dana finally whispered, turning to her friend “has he called you today?”

Cecil shook his head in response, his eyes starting to dampen with tears. 

“When was the last time he called you?” Abby asked, a small bit of anger flashing across her face at Cecil’s answer

“F-f-four weeks ago,” Cecil responded, his voice a shaky whisper

“Oh Cecil, come here,” Dana said, voice soft as she pulled her friend into a tight hug.

Cecil stiffened at first before relaxing into her shoulder, finally letting the tears fall. 

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to,” Janice said as she carefully wheeled away, an upset look on her face as she looked at her mother. “I just wanted to see if I was right.”

“I know honey, I figured that’s what you were doing, but next time, please just ask one of us,” Abby replied, rubbing a tired hand down her face.

Dana just watched as the other two quietly left, and then sighed when she felt the growing wet patch on her shoulder. Deciding that the best thing to do was ignore it, Dana closed her eyes and made soft shushing noises as Cecil cried. After a while, his tears stopped falling and he grew quiet again, just leaning into her shoulder for several minutes until jumping away like he had been burned.

“What’s wrong?” Dana asked, concern evident in her voice

“I’m sorry.” Cecil muttered, pointing at the dampness in her shirt “I made your clothes wet.”

“Cecil, it’s okay. I really don’t mind.” Dana said, pulling her friend in for a brief hug before drawing back. “Now, you mister are coming with me. While you were with Janice, I met Old Woman Josie in the crowd and she invited us to her house for dinner. At this point, we’ve spent the mandatory amount of time here, and I’m getting really hot, so let’s get going.”

“I’m guessing that I don’t have a say in this.” Cecil quietly said as he was dragged to his feet. 

“Nope, now come on, I think it would be best for us to walk there,” Dana answered, tugging Cecil toward the exit of Mission Grove Park

“Fine, but only because I like you.” Cecil lightly scowled, but there was no heat behind it. 

“Wow, Cecil, I’m so touched.” Dana shot back as the two walked through the gates and back onto the street. 

As the two walked through the quickly fading sunlight, Dana chattered on about how her brother was doing in school and some of the new recipes he mom had been making. As was quickly becoming the norm, Cecil just listened, making humming noises at certain points to show that he was still paying attention. When they were five minutes from Old Woman Josie’s house, Cecil finally spoke. 

“I-it’s two years today.” he croaked, his voice breaking on the last word. “It’s two years today, and he hasn’t bothered to call or answer my calls,” Cecil added, tears starting to fill his eyes again as he spoke  
And at moment, Dana hated Carlos.


End file.
